SAFA is attempting to nip in the bud to the KZN governments in particular who keep on hosting COSAFA Cup events “which is in breach of its statutes and the association will no longer allow the regional body to host its events in the country until further notice”, with the FA having the rights to block it since they are the mother body of football in the country.
SAFA CEO Tebogo Motlanthe said this cannot go on because they spend money in organizing these events and when they enquire about those funds, they are spent, leaving their needy issues not being addressed.
He added other countries have got the capacity to hold COSAFA Cup events and SA should be excused and its enough.
“We further elaborated on the relationship with COSAFA and the decision was taken (by the NEC) that we must write to COSAFA and advise that the NEC is of the view that they are in breach of their own statutes,” said Motlanthe in the statement.
“We have not been bidding for these COSAFA tournaments, but they’ve been happening here in South Africa.
“We are saying, let us not be burdened with tournaments which we have not bid for because at some point, they go against our own priorities as the Association.
“When you go to different government departments they say their budgets have been spent on COSAFA tournaments because that is classified as football.
“So the NEC has taken a firm decision that we must write to them to say we have hosted as a country and it is enough, give others a chance.
“We don’t want to be portrayed as a greedy country, which wants everything. And we believe that there is capacity within the zone to host.
“Like I said previously, Botswana and Namibia are bidding to host the AFCON finals, so there is no way they cannot be able to host a tournament of COSAFA’s magnitude. So that was the major decision which was taken by this NEC.”
The Durban municipality and sports government is the one that is going to be affected, having signed a three-year deal with COSAFA to host three tournaments this year. However, the contract between the two organizations is in the final year.
The KZN acting MEC for Sports Bongiwe Sithole Moloi, in her budget speech on Thursday in Pietermaritzburg, reads as follows: “The Province is in its final year of the three-year agreement to host the COSAFA Tournaments in eThekwini in partnership with eThekwini Municipality and the Department of Economic Development and Environmental Affairs.
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“The tournament boasts participation from the 14 SADC member states. There are three tournaments scheduled for 2023 – the COSAFA Cup Men’s Tournament, the COSAFA Women’s Champions League Tournament and the COSAFA Beach Soccer Tournament.
“As part of the COSAFA Cup the following developmental initiatives are planned this year – referee’s course, advanced administrators and management course for all 11 regions of SAFA in the province, Fast Footie youth football festival and a 15-day CAF C-License Coaching Course.”
With SAFA NEC having issued this statement to remind COSAFA, KZN sports and Durban municipality on who is the boss in football affairs in the country, it will be interesting to see whether these events will go ahead as planned this year in KwaZulu-Natal.
